Resurection
by iceredrose
Summary: Lilly is the only one left. She is scarred, alone, and afraid to get close to anyone. But then there was Chad. Can he help break through her barriers and find out what's really wrong? Can she love him enough to keep him alive? Can he love her?
1. Meeting New People

_Why am I still here? _"Class, this is Lilandra, she will be your new classmate." A tall, slender girl of 5'7" loomed over the class. Her skin had a light tan and her waist long brown hair was bombarded with streaks of red, black, and deep purple. _Why did I run away? _ "Hello Lilandra." The class monotonously replied. Lilandra's form was clothed in black baggy pants and black combat boots. She wore a long black trench coat that was tight to her waist then flowed out. Under this she wore a tight black shirt that said "_The voices in my head hate you_" _How could this have happened? _ "You can sit next to Chad. Chad raise your hand please." A very tan, tall boy raised a large muscular arm over his long brown hair. _Why are they dead instead of me?... _

"HI! What's _your _name?!"

"Idiot, if you were listening you would have known."

"Well do you know her name?" An argument broke out next to Lilandra as two ugly guys tried their best to hit on her.

"You can call me Lilly." A deep, melodious sound flowed through Lilandra's slightly pink mouth and the boys that were arguing fell over with stars in their eyes. Rolling her eyes Lilly turned to Chad, on her right. "So you're Chad, right?" Up closer Lilly could tell that he was a lot more than a strong arm, his whole body screamed masculinity, even his face which was oddly beautiful. She looked into his eyes as he grunted in return, they seemed to hold more knowledge and wisdom than was right for one so young. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Chad."

"Pleasure to meet you as well Lilly." He did not smile as he said it which gave Lilly the impression of a lack of social skills. "Time for lunch." Chad raised himself from his desk as a shrill bell went off.

"Would you like to eat lunch with us Lilly?" Lilly looked up to see a pretty boy with a prize winning smile looking down at her.

"Uh….sure…why not." When Lilly stood she felt as though she was on a merry-go-round gone psycho and that there were large hammers attacking her head. She began to sway a little, then a lot and just as she started to fall backwards two strong arms engulfed her and her back was leaning against a very muscular chest.

"Careful." Chad let her go, making sure she was alright before walking through a door leading to a staircase.

"Are you okay?" Asked the pretty boy. His brown eyes were concerned and covered by beautiful black hair.

"yes, I'm fine uh—what was your name?"

"OH! My name is __"

"MIZUIRO!!!!!!!!! Come ON! We have to go!" A boy with chin length brown hair screamed as he ran over to his friend.

"That's Keigo, and yeah, my name's Mizuiro. We eat with Chad on the roof."

"Nice to meet you both." Lilly said to them as Keigo stood, staring at her.

"He…he….hi…." Keigo drooled.

"um…hi?....again?" Lilly followed through the door that Chad had gone through. The stairs led to the roof of the school. Lilly stood on the edge of the roof and spread her arms, enjoying the fresh air on her face.

"AH!!!!!!!" screamed a voice behind her. "MISS LILLY! DON'T JUMP! I'LL SAVE YOU!" Lilly turned to tell Keigo that she wasn't jumping, but as she did so she felt the air rush out of her body and she was flung over the side of the building. "LILLY!" After thirty seconds of hanging for dear life onto the side of the roof Lilly recomposed herself and assessed the situation, replaying what had happened.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" Three pairs of feet pounded on the roof above her as people came to enjoy the show.

"S-s-s-sorry…." Keigo coward in the corner of the roof.

"Would you like some assistance?" Chad's quiet, deep voice calmed Lilly.

"No…I can do this….back up every one. " As everyone moved Lilly flipped back up to solid ground. "Don't you move….I'm not finished with you." Keigo froze in his retreating tracks. "Turn and face me like a man." He did so reluctantly. "Now please….explain to me WHY YOU PUSHED ME OVER THE EDGE OF THE BUILDING!"

"I didn't mean to! I thought you were going to jump!" Lilly sobered up.

"Normally when trying to save someone from jumping…you pull…." Lilly looked to the sky sadly. "Aiya….I need to sit." She leaned over to sit when something knocked her over onto the concrete.

"Hehehe."

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to hit a girl?!" A kid with orange hair and Chad stood in front of Lilly in fighting stance.

"Oi!" Everyone looked at Lilly who was rubbing her head in pain. "What did I do to you?!"

"I don't like your eyes. You think silver contacts make you so hot?"

"Hey you said it not me….but they're not contacts so get over yourself, poser."

"Lilly, you're new so maybe you haven't heard of this guy….he's Reiichi Oshima. He's super tough!" Keigo looked as if his head was getting ready to explode, or wet his pants, maybe both.

"He can't be that tough if he's picking on a little girl like me. Go ahead, hit me…I dare ya."

"Lilly—" the boy with orange hair started in. Lilly decided to call him strawberry because that's the color his hair looked.

"Shut up. I know you macho guys can handle him….but I wanna see what he's got for myself. So go ahead. Hit me…if you can." Lilly studied Oshima as he got himself ready to fight. He had the ugliest bleached hair and a pierced lip. She wanted to say he looked like a pig, but then decided it would be best not to insult animals. Oshima cranked his arm back and attempted to strike Lilly in the face with his fist but he didn't get too far before she high kicked him in the head. "Ooh…I'm sorry…was that your attempt…oh okay. Go ahead and give it another go." Oshima was steaming from the nose as he tried to kick her in the stomach. Lilly caught his leg and twisted it, causing his whole body to flail and hit the ground. "Must be difficult knowing that a bad boy like you is loosing to a girl huh?"

"This isn't over. I will get you for this."

"Thanks for the warning." Both groups turned their backs on each other,

but Oshima decided he wasn't completely done with Lilly. Lilly's eyes widened and her mouth spluttered blood as Oshima's hand drove into her side. The gang turned and Chad had a look of deepest hate as he moved to stand in the way of Oshima, but Lilly reached him first. "Why you dirty little snot nosed mamma's boy! You can't even face your opponent like a true fighter you cheating punk! How would your mamma feel to know she raised a boy who punches a GIRL when her BACK was turned?!" Lilly stopped fighting when Oshima hit the ground. After spitting on him Lilly sulked to the wall and fell over.

"You alright?" Chad moved to sit in front of her, blocking her from anymore attacks that might come.

"I should be fine…" Lilly coughed up more blood and Chad turned to the gang.

"Someone call an ambulance."

"NO! That really isn't necessary! You don't have to call an ambulance. I'm fine see?" Lilly smiled but soon coughed more blood.

Chad looked down at her, amusement playing in his eyes. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Not many people like it when you have abnormally colored eyes. Being different is a tough business, I suppose it's the same for you and strawberry over there. Fighting isn't a good or bad thing, it's a survival skill." Keigo came over and poked Lilly in the side. "AIYA! IT HURTS STUPID!"

"Keigo, back off." Chad growled at the boy next to him.

"Why don't you wear the uniform like everyone else?"

"Um….uh….I….don't know?" Lilly looked up at Chad and newly found Strawberry. "You guys are really going to make me go to that icky hospital?" They both nodded and Lilly shooed everyone else away. "Fine…since I really don't feel like getting arrested or anything, Here." Lilly opened her trench coat to reveal knives and lighters galore.

"HOLY—"

"SHHHHHHH!" Lilly glared at strawberry. "What is your name by the way?"

"Ichigo."

Lilly laughed before coughing up more blood. (Ichigo means either one life or strawberry) "Never mind. Since you two and the girl over there are the only ones that look like I can trust well enough, you guys keep these till I get back…actually…one of you come with me?..." Ichigo stared obliviously at her. "As tough as I seem, I'm deathly afraid of doctors and hospitals. Not so good experiences with them."

"I've got to work tonight. Dad will kill me if I skip out."

"I've got no obligations…I'll do it." Chad's quiet voice rang.

"If you will…you're going to have to be someone important to me."

"I know. It's fine." Paramedics rushed to Lilly's side, shoving and jostling everyone around her. Lilly screamed in pain as one of them pressed her ribs to find out where it hurt.

"IF I TELL YOU IT HURTS THERE IT MOST LIKELY HURTS THERE! THERE IS NO REASON IN GOD'S NAME FOR YOU TO POKE THERE! MY RIBS PUNCTURED MY LUNGS! THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG!" Lilly's new found friends cringed as her reaction was to punch the new paramedic in the nose.

"Hey!" Chad pushed the incompetent guy off Lilly. "You okay?"

"Uh-huh…" They loaded Lilly onto a stretcher and hurried out of the building with Chad following.

"Sir, you need to stay here." Said a white coat.

"Sorry, but no."

"Are you her long term boyfriend?" Chad grunted. "Fine."

Chad got into the ambulance after the men poking his new friend. "Chad?...." Lilly's shaking voice was so soft he almost didn't hear it.

"I'm here…" Chad glanced at the men inserting needles into Lilly. "What will you have to do?"

"Well, it seems that her ribs have punctured her lungs and she will soon drown in her own blood.—"

"Well DUH! I just told you that but nobody would listen!" Lilly's outburst startled the paramedic.

"We'll have to go into surgery and—"

"WHAT! I NEVER AGREED TO THAT!!! You can't do that without my approval!" she tried her best to wiggle free of the wires and needles.

"Lilly…calm down." Chad looked at Lilly nonchalantly.

"We have to place her rib back into place, get all the blood out of her lung then sew her lung together." Lilly's hand groped for Chad's and he reached out to soothe her.

"Some first day huh?" She smiled crookedly. The ambulance screeched to a jolting halt and the paramedics were immediately put to work as they took her out of the vehicle and into the looming hospital. They headed towards two giant metal doors.

The lead doctor joined them immediately and turned to Chad momentarily. "Sir, wait out here. We'll come get you when she can have visitors."

"What? No…NO! CHAD! NO! GET OFF OF ME! YOU PEOPLE KILLED MY SISTER! GET OFF! CHAAAD!" Lilly's sobbing and agonizing screams rang through the stunned hospital and nearly broke Chad's gentle heart.

_Be safe._


	2. Payback

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, just Lilandra and her story

_Long blonde hair flowed out as a halo around an angel's porcelain face. Pink seeped through the golden halo though, as blood covered the ground. Lilly stared at the body placed at her feet and noticed a crumpled piece of paper in one of the body's slender hands. _

Lilandra,

I'm sorry that I have failed you. If you're reading this then you know I'm obviously not telling you. This means that the doctors have pushed me over the edge…but know that I love you little sister, even through my short comings.

Love,

Angel

_"No…no…." Lilly's eyes streamed crimson tears. "What's going on?...Angel…Why did you leave me?" A large form loomed at the edge of the roof before plummeting towards the earth. "Chad?" The form was huge with beautiful hair and a wonderful face. "CHAD!"_

"CHAD!" Lilly yelled before realizing that it had all been a dream.

"Lilly?" With a turn of her head Lilly found herself gazing into Chad's face as he sat beside her bed.

"Have you seriously stayed with me this whole time?" Chad grunted and the doctor waltzed in.

"Ah. You're awake." He stated in a sing song voice. "Since you're better now, we're going to move you to Kurosaki Clinic."

"That's Ichigo's family's clinic." Chad answered Lilly's confused face.

"Oh…ok then. We'll just be leaving then."

"Not so fa-ast! We'll transport you and your hunk of a man there." The doctor wagged his eyebrows looking at Chad. "I'll be right back."

Lilly and Chad stared mutely after the disturbing doctor. "Did he call you a hunk of a man?" Chad nodded. "Weird." Chad grunted in agreement. "OH NO!" Lilly's terrified scream jolted Chad. "I just remembered that Snow, Midnight, and Autumn haven't had anyone to cuddle them! OH! My poor babies!"

"Who are they?"

"My kitties. Guess I have to find some way to sneak away tonight."

"I can do it. I love cute things." Chad smiled his first genuine smile making Lilly smile back.

"Thanks."

Lilly shot up in her clinic bed. It was the second night she had spent there and she was still wrapped from her chest to her hips. She put on black, full length skirt as quickly as she could with her bandages on. "Something's not right."

"Car crash….four cars." Came a male voice from the hall. Lilly ran into the newly lit hallway to see Chad's form leaning on Ichigo and his father for support.

"Chad?" Her breath held itself as she did what she could to help him. She followed him into a clean room and watched him struggle to sit on the bed. "Chad?" He looked up at her mutely. "They need to examine your wounds…can I take off your shirt?" Chad nodded slightly and Lilly removed the loud shirt from his massive body.

As she did so Yuzu, Ichigo's littlest sister gasped in horror. "What a horrible wound!" Lilly couldn't see his wound yet, but she looked down and saw that his muscles were all very well defined making her blush slightly. "Lilly?" Yuzu's quiet voice broke through Chad's ragged breathing. "I need to do other work. Can you put this medicine on his wounds then wrap him up?" Lilly nodded and walked Yuzu out, listening to instructions, then shut the door behind her. Turning back to Chad she saw that he had already buttoned his shirt and was standing.

"Chad…just let me put this on your wound….please?" Chad sat back, reluctantly removing his shirt again. She moved to his back and stared dumbly at the huge burn raging across his skin. It looked like a burn but it was still bleeding profusely. "Oh, God…" Chad hung his head low, almost as if in shame. "This……this is going to burn…a lot. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." She applied the salve as gently as she could, working it slowly into his gaping wound. No matter how gently she touched him there was no way for her to make it any less painful. At every rub Chad inhaled sharply through his teeth and Lilly teared up in sorrow. After she applied it to his whole wound she wrapped his whole upper body in bandages so they would be safe. "Thanks." She laid him down on the bed.

"I'll be right back." Her voice had tears in it, but there were none on her cheeks. She went out the door and was gone for two minutes before returning with the caged bird in her arms.

"What?"

"Well…" Lilly set the bird on the night table next to his bed. "I figure you've got a reason you wanted to get the heck out of here so fast. Maybe to protect us from something…the same something that gave you that wound. Because that was not made by a car." Chad stared at her, astonished with her understanding. "Well, it's your life. I know you don't want to be here in the morning so I'm just making it easier on you. Thanks for looking out for me, now it's my turn ta look out for you. Just…..be careful…k?" Lilly bent to kiss his forehead then the bird. "Good to meet you kid. Be safe. Keep this big guy safe too ok?" Lilly said goodnight then reluctantly left for her own bed.


	3. New Surprises

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, just Lilandra and her story

"BAD NEWS! CHAD'S NOT IN HIS ROOM!" Lilly woke to yelling about Chad not being there. She rushed out.

"Ichigo. I'll help you look for him!"

"Alright. But put a shirt on first." Lilly sprinted out the door in the skirt from the night before and buttoning up her black blouse with splashes of red. Ichigo took off in the direction of his school and Lilly in the opposite direction with an apple in her mouth, her eyes constantly searching for signs of trouble and Chad. _Rukia's close. _A loud explosion rang in the air as Lilly turned down an alley and beheld the ugliest Hollow she'd ever seen staring down at Rukia's struggling form.

"OI! 'Ey YOU! You with the gaping hole in your chest! Yeah I'm talking to you!"

"Lilly! Get out of here!" Rukia shook with pain and exhaustion as she stood.

"Oh keep your skirt on. I know these things." She turned back to the Hollow. "Your kind has been nothing but trouble for me!"

"Lilly?" Chad's voice came from behind her. She made the fatal mistake of looking back at him. The Hollow spat leaches all over her upper body.

"Well that's gross." She said looking down at the slimy slugs attached to her body.

"These are not only gross my dear…" The Hollow made raspberry sounds with his tongue and the leaches exploded, leaving bloody, gaping wounds on her stomach and chest. "That didn't feel so good." The Hollow grabbed Rukia by the neck and tried choking her, but Chad ran past Lilly and landed a solid punch on the Hollow.

"He punched a Hollow…can he see it?" Lilly watched Chad punch thin air looking for the Hollow. "Obviously not." The Hollow got cocky and then Chad punched him again in the face. Lilly sauntered over to Rukia's weakening form. "Ichigo won't be here in time….You already knocked his soul out of him right? Yes I know all about you all."

Rukia nodded. "We could work with Chad." Rukia and Lilly informed Chad that the Hollow had taken to the sky.

"You guys can see ghosts?"

"No time to talk now." Rukia responded. Chad stood in thought for a moment before he took an electric pole out of the ground.

"Wow…didn't realize he was that strong…" Lilly watched in amazement as Rukia was catapulted by Chad into the air at the Hollow. She was close but couldn't make it due to the Hollow spitting his exploding leaches onto Rukia as well. "Not good."

"What happened? I can't see."

"You're lucky. This thing is uuuuuuglyyy." Lilly offered a half smile before she was sent flying into the wall behind them by a jagged wooden pole that launched itself into her stomach. Lilly screamed in agony for a split second before Chad started to move towards her.

"LILLY!" Both Rukia and Chad started sprinting towards her.

"Don't move." She forced through gritted teeth. They looked in the direction Lilly was staring. Chad saw his bird. "One of the exploding leaches is on his cage Chad. If you move it will explode."

"But—"

"It's not a normal bird Chad. Just don't move. Rukia, you can buy us some time if you run." Rukia nodded and without another word sprinted off down the alley, closely followed by the Hollow. "Now the question is what would a Hollow want with that soul?"

Chad looked up quizzically at Lilly's paling face. "How are you still alive?"

"I'm just lucky like that." Lilly gritted her teeth in anger at the thought that she wouldn't just die.

Rukia returned and showed that the spirit inside of the bird was a little boy. When Ichigo showed up he released the boy's spirit to the after life and Chad looked as though he would cry.

"It's ok Chad. I'm sure you'll see him again sooner than you think…" Chad offered a sad, small smile. Lilly turned to Ichigo. "You need to call your father and tell him that soon he is going to have a patient that needs a bed and some tea."

"Wha—" Ichigo stopped short of his word and watched in horror as Lilly started to walk forward on the pole lodged in her body. With every step more blood spilled from her body and made a gushing sound.

As she stepped off she turned to Chad slightly. "Chad…you're going to have….to catch…me…" Lilly started to crumble to the ground when Chad's strong arms caught her bridal style. Ichigo yelled at his father on the phone as they ran in the direction of his house.

"Well I don't have time to! No I didn't do it! Just be prepared!" As he hung up they turned onto his street. Chad looked down at his arms to see Lilly clutching his shirt and crying silently with her eyes closed.

"Hold on." He whispered to himself. Ichigo's father met them at the door and immediately tried to work on her but she protested.

"I'll be fine. I'm getting better already. I just need some place to rest for a little bit." Everyone stared at her like she was insane. "Really. I just need a bed and rest…and maybe some good tea. And some bandages again. Trust me this isn't the worst wound I've gotten." Lilly walked away to the room she was going to stay in and sat on the bed heavily.

"Chad." Ichigo took Chad to a corner after his father was done wrapping her wounds. "Stay with her for a bit? I don't know if she's telling the truth or just as stubborn as you are." Chad nodded and grunted then left Ichigo to go sit by Lilly's bed. Ichigo left the room and went to make some tea.

"I miss my babies." Lilly smiled gently. "Did you feed them?"

"And cuddled." Chad semi-smiled at her weak form.

"I really am fine."

"I know."

"Then why stay?"

"Because Ichigo asked me to. That's all the reason that I need. "

"You two are really close huh?" Chad grunted in response and the night dragged on as he watched her sleep gently.

The next morning Chad, Ichigo and Lilly walked to school together in something close to content silence except for the bird's squawking. "The bird's vocabulary has crashed. What happened Chad?" Mizuiro stared, wide-eyed at the bird.

"Huh? Beats me…It was just like that when I woke up today."

"Well that's weird." Lilly stared off into space, thinking about what had taken place with Yuichi only yesterday. She remembered Chad's sad face and wished there was something she could do for him. When the bell rang for the gang to head to class they all reluctantly left the roof of the school.

Somewhere in the course of the day Ichigo disappeared and was replaced with someone else in his body. The class was roaming around when Ichigo's body jumped through the third story window and kissed Orihime's hand. Tatsuki became infuriated and began thrashing and throwing desks around the room trying to hit "Ichigo". Lilly pressed her body against the wall as much as she could when Chad, Mizuiro and Keigo entered the room and stared aghast. A desk came hurtling towards the four of them, Keigo and Mizuiro screamed like girls and Lilly let out a small 'eep' and waited for impact but it never came. Chad stepped in front of her and caught the desk easily.

"You might want to stay behind me until she's through with her tirade."

"Yeah…good idea." While Lilly stared at Chad's back she remembered his wound. Without being fully aware of what she was doing, Lilly slid her hand up Chad's shirt and rested on his wound. She felt him tense up and immediately snapped at him "Oh just relax. I'm not feelin' you up, just checking your wound. It hasn't scabbed over yet. Walk me home after school and I'll give you some of my salve, it works a lot better than theirs. It'll most likely be healed by tomorrow." Chad slowly let his shoulders relax and nodded at her instruction. Reluctantly, Lilly let her hand back down to her side. _He's so warm. STOP! Don't even think about it! Don't even start caring…he'll die, just like the rest of them…. _Without warning Lilly took off out the door and ran out the hall.

Mizuiro watched her sprint out the doors and pointed it out to Chad. "You seem to know her best…" Chad nodded and ran out the door trying desperately to catch up to her but failing miserably in the end.

Lilly ran all the way home as she saw "Ichigo" jump all over town. When she finally reached her living room all three of her cats were there to greet her. "Hey babies. You're the only ones who always escape with me." She fell asleep on her cozy couch with Snow in her arms, Midnight at her head and Autumn laying on her bare skin on the small of her back. "Chad…" She whispered softly. "Don't….go…."

"Lilly?" A strong male voice broke through her dreams. "You home?" _Chad…_

"Yeah…come in!" Lilly didn't even attempt to move to greet Chad seeing as she was so comfortable and warm with her cats.

"Where are…oh." Chad looked down and smiled at the sight of all her cats cuddling with her.

"What? Oh yeah…ointment. Hold on a sec." As Lilly got off her stomach and onto her knees she stretched like a sunbathing cat. After skipping off down the hall into a smaller room she tried to pull a cloth out of the over crowded closet, but everything got off balance and fell.

Chad heard a loud bang and poked his head into the room to find Lilly sitting in the middle of a mountain of overturned boxes and containers. "You alright?"

"Yeah…if I can figure out how to get out of here." With some difficulty Lilly jumped over a pile of boxes and fell into Chad's waiting arms. "Uh…thanks." She smiled up at him and told him to follow her as she went into the door at the end of the hall. It opened up into a large room with a huge bed in the middle. "Just…sit on the bed and take your shirt off." Lilly stopped short. "Whoa did that sound weird." Lilly disappeared into what appeared to be a bathroom. Chad heard her rummaging around when a shrill scream blasted his eardrums and made him cringe. "Shelly! Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Chad faced the bathroom and saw Lilly skipping out with a large white rat under her arm. "Sorry about the screaming…Shelly decided to hide in my cupboards." Chad found himself amused and took the rat from her. He put it in his lap and stroked its head gently. "Relax your shoulders." He did so and Lilly began humming in her melodic voice as she rubbed in cool salve to his burning skin. The ointment _she _had was soothing and cool, unlike that at the clinic.

"So, how many pets _do _you have?"

"A lot…I lost count…I should count them. Let's see….well, I'll just how them to you. But, this is going to sound weird again; don't put your shirt back on for another five minutes. The wound and the ointment need to air out, so just walk around the house with your shirt off." Lilly turned a little pink as she walked away from Chad and down the hallway into her den. "Okay, let's see. This is Buster." Lilly held up a very large brown bunny that closed his eyes slowly on Chad. "You already know the queens of the castle." She said as she glided through the living room to the pantry in her kitchen. "They are Cheetoh, Wizard and Alakazam." She pointed out three more rats as she put Shelly back in her cage. Cheetoh was an orange rat, Wizard was white and black and Alakazam was brown with one white splash on his back. "They are all _very _fond of Shelly." She walked down the hall some more to a large aquatic looking tank. "This beauty is Sheelah." She pet the large snake in her cage. "These three darlings," she hopped over the baby gate in her kitchen, "are Flopsy, Mopsy, and Hufflepuff." Three tiny white dogs with large faces jumped at Chad's shoe which was just as big as them. "In the back I have a few more." Lilly opened a door that led from the kitchen into the serenity of her backyard. Grass covered every inch of it, and lush trees sprouted out naturally all over. Beautiful white, yellow, and purple tulips covered the hill in the back of her yard next to a pond with giant gold and black fish. "That's Summer," a golden retriever, "Angel," A white mop dog, "Lance, and Blueberry," two dogs that were as tall as Chad's waist ran towards them. "Blueberry's pregnant. She and Lance make such a cute couple." Lilly smiled proudly. All the big dogs reached her and jumped up to lick her; she laughed and played with them. She looked so at home in the middle of this chaos it made Chad's heart leap.

"Where did you get them all?" Chad asked as they sat down in her living room, the back door open and all her animals there. He put his shirt on and sat across from her on the loveseat while she sat on the couch.

"I find them. They're all animals that I've found wandering around. Or sometimes they find me." Lilly looked fondly at the three rambunctious puppies playing with Chad's shoe. "Hufflepuff and her brothers were left on my doorstep in a box during a rainstorm. There were three others, but they didn't make it. Poor babies." Chad smiled outwardly but had a war raging inside of him. Why did he have this weird sensation in his stomach? And why only when she was around? "Oh!" Lilly shouted, startled and laughing as a white dove landed on her head, ruffling her beautiful, multi-colored hair. "And this is Crystal." She held out a finger for Crystal to sit on and took her off of her head. "She landed in my pond with a broken wing. I fixed her up, but she's never fully left. She loves people." Crystal flew to Chad and landed on his shoulder rubbing its head on his jaw.

"Cute bird."

"I hear you like cute things." Lilly smiled and Chad nodded. "You know, if you ever need a place to just escape or something....you can come here and chill." Lilly blushed slightly and Chad nodded in appreciation. "I hope Ichigo got his body back." Lilly broke the silence that had accumulated in her house.

"Yeah." Chad and Lilly sat in silence until dark. "I should go." His mouth said the words but his brain shrieked at him to take them back.

"You wanna stay for dinner?" Chad gazed at her from the doorway. "Even though I'm surrounded by my babies it gets lonely here every now and again, it's nice to have a human friend. You could help me feed the animals. And I should check your wound, see how it's doing." Chad nodded and took his shirt off. "Man….getting you to take your shirt off must just be one of my talents." Lilly laughed as she ran a hand over what was now just a scrape on the side of his back. "Well, you'll be happy to know it's nothing more than a scrape now." Lilly and Chad ate dinner full of conversation and fed the animals with laughter before reluctantly saying goodnight at her door. _I'm so sorry Chad….you have no chance now….I really really like you…._


	4. She's Alone for a Reason

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, just Lilandra and her story

Lilly didn't go to school the next day and Chad felt his heart drop a few feet. He was depressed all day, but no one could really tell since his exterior expression never really changed. Everybody was going down to the old abandoned hospital to see Don Kanonji get rid of an evil spirit that was haunting it. As Chad wandered through the crowds that night he couldn't block out the screaming that seemed to be filling the air around him. "Keigo?...do you hear that screaming?"

"Not here of all places Chad." Keigo turned his back to his friend.

"Right…Sorry…my bad."

"Chad?" A quiet voice he could hardly hear came behind him, followed by someone grabbing his arm for comfort. He looked down to see Lilly at his arm. She was more pale than usual and her eyes had dark rings under them. "You hear it too?" She looked up at him and his heart was wrenched in his body at the sight of her eyes. They looked glazed over and full of such pain he almost couldn't stand it.

"Lilly? Where were you today?"

"I was resting. I didn't feel too good." Lilly had a determined look plastered on her tired face. But what was she determined to do? "Look…Ichigo…And—"

"Rukia." Lilly couldn't help but feel envious that Chad knew Rukia's name and sounded concerned as they started after their friends because Rukia and Ichigo were bombarded by security. Keigo and Mizuiro protested and tried to stop Lilly and Chad but he protected her from their grabbing hands and they pressed on towards the mob holding Rukia and Ichigo.

As Lilly was running up she watched a strange man in a weird hat push Ichigo's spirit out of him with a stick and run away with his body and Rukia. "Chad…someone good got them out, but now we have to stall the guards. K?" Chad and Lilly caused such a commotion more people were paying attention to them than to Kanonji. They fought until Lilly could no longer see Ichigo's body floating among the crowd. She worked her way over to Chad and fought with her back against his. "On the count of three, you take Keigo and I'll take Mizuiro and we run back to my place. Chad nodded as he threw a guard into the crowd. "One," Lilly kneed a man in the stomach, "two," They made sure they were near their friends, "THREE!" Lilly and Chad threw two guards into the other guards creating a domino effect. They ran to their friends, picked them up and ran through the crowd until they were three blocks away, only then did they slow to a walk and Chad put Keigo on his feet. Chad and Lilly led the way and a confused Keigo and Mizuiro walked behind them.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Keigo lectured them. Lilly rolled her eyes and Chad smirked.

Without any warning whatsoever Lilly sank to one knee on the ground and covered her ears as she screamed and vomited. "Lilly!" Chad bent to her right side and Keigo went to her left. "What's—" Chad fought not to cover his ears as an agonizing scream reached his ears as well. "Come on…" Chad picked up Lilly's shuddering form bridal style and ran to her house.

"You know where she lives?!" Keigo wailed. "WHY!!!???"

"Mizuiro, get her keys out of her coat pocket." Mizuiro searched her pocket and found her key. When he opened her door Chad rushed her inside and laid her on the couch. He found her cats nosing her and put them each on top of her. "Keep her warm." Chad wandered to the kitchen and opened the child safety gate to let the puppies out, then he opened the door and dried off the bigger dogs, letting them inside. Chad wandered all over the first floor going into every room trying to find blankets. When he couldn't he decided to go to the top floor. He opened the first two rooms and found them empty, but the third one was different by far. When he opened the white door he saw unlit candles and smelled incense. In the far corner of the room was a mahogany chest topped with four pictures. Chad felt drawn to these pictures so went to look at them. Kneeling down he saw the first picture held captive a young, pale girl with long blonde hair who looked a few years older than Lilly, but they were definitely related. They had the same just visible cheek bones and almond shaped eyes, but this girl's were green. The second picture that caught his eye had two people in it. One was a man with chestnut colored hair and dark skin holding a woman with long black hair and silver eyes, like Lilly's. They both had smiles on and they reminded him of Lilly. The third picture was of a young girl, looking to be about three. She had Blonde hair and silver eyes with green flecks. Her smile was bright and toothy, like one of those girls that everyone loves dearly. The last was a man with dark brown hair and green eyes. Chad looked at all the pictures once more and realized it must be a shrine of some sort. Had all these people died? He suddenly remembered the blankets he was in search of and left the room with a bow of respect to the pictures. After searching a few more rooms Chad found four heavy blankets and went back to Lilly's side. He lifted the cats gently then laid the blankets across her and replaced the queens. He went to the kitchen to make some tea and feed the caged animals. When he came out he found all of Lilly's cats, dogs, bunny and bird with her. Crystal was on her head, Snow at her neck, Autumn was on her stomach and Midnight was in between her legs. The puppies were all curled around her feet, Buster was in her arms and the bigger dogs sat with their heads on her unconscious body. Chad handed out the tea and the boys sat in silence for a half an hour before Lilly started to move.

Mizuiro and Chad straightened in their seats; Keigo had fallen asleep and was now drooling on Mizuiro. Lilly sat up and studied her surroundings as her animals also straightened to greet her with concern. Lilly burst into a laughing fit as she saw Keigo drooling and Mizuiro trying to wake him up nicely. "How long have you guys been here?" She asked when she was calm enough not to laugh.

"Hour, Hour and a half. Something like that." Chad sat with his head down, not looking at anyone. Mizuiro and Keigo saw nothing wrong with this, but it bothered Lilly, something was wrong.

"Well, I'm fine now. You guys should go home and get some rest; we're going to have a big day of getting in trouble tomorrow." Keigo and Mizuiro rushed out of the house but Chad took his time. When he got to the door Lilly put a hand on his arm. "I know something's wrong. You gonna tell me what it is?"

Chad sighed. "I saw that room upstairs. I'm not prying, but if you wanna talk, I'm here…I guess…sometimes it helps." Chad started out the door but Lilly grabbed his hand.

"Then let's talk." She jerked her head towards the living room. "I'll be right back. You can wait, or make tea or something." Lilly walked slowly upstairs and was up there for a few minuets before coming back down to the smell of tea and the sight of Chad on her loveseat surrounded by her animals. He looked so kind and gentle that she wanted to run to him. But she didn't. She worked her way down the stairs slowly and went to sit next to him with all of her pictures in hand. She sat Indian style and put the pictures next to her. After taking a long sip of the tea he had made she felt she was ready to reveal her life to him. "This one is my sister, Angel. She was engaged to this man, Brian." Lilly held up the picture of the Blonde girl next to the picture of the brunette boy. "She was pregnant with Amy." Lilly showed him the picture of the smiling little girl. "When Angel went into labor, the doctors had to perform surgery to get Amy out because the umbilical cord was tied around her throat and they didn't want her to die. However they didn't look into my sister's records that showed that she shouldn't have the surgery, they didn't even tell her what was going on. Didn't tell us either. In the end Amy got out, but my sister was dead." Lilly took a shuttering breath. "They told us they were sorry, but they weren't, and that made it all worse. We didn't even get a chance to tell her goodbye. Her baby would never know her mother. The worst part was, we watched it happen. We watched helplessly as her heart monitor stopped, when she took her last breath. She was only 19." Lilly kissed the picture of her dead sister and picked up Brian's picture. "I went to the roof to be alone so I could cry, But Brian came up too. It was like he didn't see anything." Lilly's eyes glazed over as if she was seeing it all again. "Nothing was up there except him….He walked to the edge of the roof and looked down…I ran to him and called his name…but he didn't hear me….couldn't hear me….He jumped. I reached out for him but all I got was the locket my sister always wore." Lilly showed him the locket around her neck. It held a picture of herself and Angel. "It flew out of his jacket pocket on the way down…I watched him fall…Watched him hit the ground…I saw the blood smear like paint onto the white sidewalk and building. All I could think was 'you jerk. You selfish jerk.' The rest of us lost her too. But he had a daughter to take care of. Now that daughter wouldn't know her mother or her father." Lilly placed his picture next to her sister's and traced the smile of Amy. "She was…"Lilly gulped down a sob as a few tears leaked onto her face. "The brightest, happiest girl anyone knew." Lilly smiled through the tears that built up and spilled over. "When she was…three years old we were playing outside…and… her ball fell into the street. I told her to wait but she was giggling and so happy she didn't listen to me. She ran out into the street after her orange and yellow ball. I ran after her, but I was too late. A speeding ambulance came around the corner, hit and killed her. I stood on the sidewalk and watched her smiling face run into the street, then I watched a speeding ambulance with no sirens on hit my baby girl. I both heard and saw her fragile body break and crumble. And when I looked down, that stupid ball had come back to my feet. I've always blamed myself…and I think everyone else did too. I always felt like there must have been some way I could have stopped her, some way I could have protected her at least, but I replay that moment in my head over and over again and I can't find anything I could have done. I find it ironic that the ones who are supposed to save people have been the cause of the deaths of a whole family…" Lilly kissed Amy's picture as her three cats climbed into her lap to comfort her. "Angel loved the snow. She would play in it until she got sick. She used to tell me that snow is what came between death and rebirth. That's why I got her." She patted the pure white cat with blue eyes on the head lightly. "Brian loved the autumn. Said it was the most beautiful painting he would ever see, and it was always different, every time he looked. So I got her." Lilly pet the multicolored cat on her shoulder. "And Amy…She would wake up at midnight almost every night and come to my room saying she was looking for mommy and daddy's stars because when we die we get a star. So I named her Midnight." Lilly looked at the black cat specked with white sleeping on Chad's lap. As she picked up her tea cup again they could see that her hands were shaking and she tried to steady them as she picked up the picture of two people. "They are my mother and father. They…They were killed just before I came here. A….um…Hollow…was after me and my mother and daddy got in front of it and told me to run…It was the first and last sign of affection they showed me after Angel died. Before her death they were so full of life. They always teased each other and joked with us. My mamma always listened to our problems and daddy loved spontaneous family trips. Then the Hollow came. He killed them…because of me…Hollows go after those closest to them and people with really high spirit energy. My parents just happened to get in the way. And for some reason, I've never gone. I should have died at least a hundred times by now, but I haven't….and I don't know WHY!" Lilly threw her empty tea glass to crash into the wall opposite of them. Her companions raised their heads in alarm and watched Lilly burry her face in her hands then into Chad's chest and cry her heart out.


	5. Learning About Abilities

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, just Lilandra and her story

Lilly walked through empty alleys as she thought about the previous night and tried to remember what happened. The last thing she remembered was breaking a teacup and crying into Chad, but she woke up in her bed and the broken teacup pieces were gone. _That means I owe Chad thanks…_Lilly blushed at the thought of him carrying her to bed.

When Lilly got to school she was immediately summoned to the principal's office. There she found Keigo, Mizuiro, Chad, Ichigo, Tatsuki, Orihime, and Rukia as well. Lilly went to stand with the girls and was greeted not so pleasantly. "Lilly! How nice of you to join our little party!" Screamed the vice principal. "YOU, missy, are as bad as him." He pointed to Chad and Lilly smirked.

"Yeah. And this is a bad thing because?"

"DO YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! LOOK AT THIS!" a picture of Ichigo fighting with security was shown on the big flat screen in the office. Lilly tried to listen but she really couldn't. When the coach, vice principal guy was done yelling at Ichigo, Lilly raised a small hand.

"Was anyone paying attention to what he just said? I wasn't listening." This made him go berserk and scream at her. "Dude. You're spitting on me." Then he got into it with Tatsuki and Orihime and they left. He then got in it with Ichigo and Keigo so Lilly moved to stand by Chad and Mizuiro as they listened to Rukia tell a sob story. Mr. Kagine, the yelling guy, went to her and tried to comfort her. While he was doing so, the boys and Lilly snuck out the window and ran as fast as they could with Mr. Kagine yelling after them. Lilly walked next to Chad as they all walked down the steps, thankful that they actually got away. They were admiring Rukia when she and Ichigo got into a fight but Lilly wasn't really paying attention. She was thinking of the previous night. What exactly happened with Ichigo and that Hollow? Obviously he won, but how did Don Kanonji feel about that?

The weekend passed and the next day at school Keigo and Mizuiro were freaking out because Ichigo's name was on the list of top 50 students in the class. He went to Chad and said that he could still hang out with them because he wasn't on the list, but Chad and Lilly went to the list and ran a finger down the line to find his name at eleventh. "Wow." Lilly looked impressed but found her name at fifth. "Yay! I'm smart! Woot!" Keigo and Mizuiro freaked out and ran away screaming that they would never hang out with them again. Chad, Ichigo and Lilly stood in the middle of the hallway, confused and not really trying to make sense of it. School went on as usual though Lilly didn't see any more of Keigo and Mizuiro. Chad was quiet as normal and Ichigo mouthed off as usual. But something told Lilly that this day was going to be different. And not necessarily in a good way. After school Chad started to head off with a couple of friends but Lilly stopped him. "CHAD!" She got his attention and ran to him. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" The guys in his group laughed and teased him. "Oh can it I'm not his girlfriend, losers." Chad smiled and followed her away form his friends. "Chad. I need you to promise you'll keep an eye out today."

"Huh? Why?"

"I don't know…just something tells me that you're gunna have to. Promise? And that you'll get those two out of trouble. But if you can't see anything…just run…it sucks to be the cause of harming people." Chad nodded.

"Yeah. I promise."

"K…be careful." Chad turned and walked away with his friends and Lilly watched until he left, then started her way home through the park. On the way her whole body convulsed in shivers. She looked to the sky and it looked as if it was falling apart. Suddenly a giant hollow crashed next to her sending her flying back into a fence. She screamed out in alarm and pain. "What the…"She stood and looked at it. "Oh…that's not good." She looked and saw kids playing soccer. _Gotta get out of here._ Chad ran through and had a Hollow following him too. _Really gotta get out of here._

"Lilly?" Chad yelled.

"Chad. You stay…I'll draw this one away. Protect the children." Lilly ran down the streets towards an empty alley. She turned and faced her opponent. _I hope Chad's alright. And that girl…Ichigo's sister…_ "I'm not afraid to die. You want to get me? Come and do your worst." The Hollow swung at her and she dodged but then it brought out a talon and sliced her stomach and arm. "Unh." She looked at it and remembered her mother and father. "You guys killed them. I will not let you kill any more people." _That's my problem. I always think about protecting the people who have already died…I need to think about the ones still living…_"You will end here. Please…..give me something…" Lilly felt a change in her body, her ice cold hands warmed and her churning belly calmed. She felt sweet serenity take over. A voice in her mind spoke. _Well it's about time you opened your mind to me. Geeze do you have any idea how long I've been waiting?_

_ Who are you?_

_ Questions later…now fighting. Lift your fists, don't get hit. _The Hollow took advantage of her confused state to try and pound his fist onto her, but she successfully dodged. _Lift you fists; concentrate on the fire you feel there. Say the word _emblazon.

Lilly lifted her fists and focused on the warmth in her hands. "Emblazon." Her fists engulfed in fire but she wasn't scared, instead she swung madly at the Hollow's unprepared body. _Good, now put your fist out at the hollow and yell _fira.

Lilly did so and flames leaped from her fist towards the Hollow, engulfing him in flame. _If you yell out _phoenix _your body will be engulfed in flames, kick him while yelling _spiro_ and it will do the same thing as when you punched him and yelled _fira.

Lilly engulfed her body in Flames then kicked the hollow while yelling _fira_ and sent the hollow flying back, but before he went away completely he scathed Lilly again across her stomach again. She ran back to the empty lot, park that she had been at and found Chad being carried away by that guy in the funny hat. "Hey…" She called out weakly. The man and the bigger man carrying Chad turned to see a woman engulfed in flames. _Say _finito _and it'll take he flames off_ "Finito." Her body stopped flaming and she walked two steps forward. "Chad…" She fell heavily and didn't get back up as the man in the hat picked her up and carried her somewhere.

Lilly woke to her body protesting her movement. "Oweeee…" she held her head. "Ooo…that hurts…"

"You ok?" She turned to see Chad behind her.

"CHAD!" She ran and gave him a hug. He hugged her back awkwardly and she moved away after a while.

"You ok?" He repeated.

"Oh, yeah….I have a voice in my head. NO I'm not insane…but now I can wear that shirt and literally mean it….no he doesn't hate you….but there are some people he most likely would hate at school…"

"Glad you're ok. You defeated your Hollow then?"

"Yeah. How'd you defeat yours?"

"Let's talk when Orihime wakes up…" Orihime moaned in response and rolled around a little bit. Chad and Lilly went to go check on her. Chad leaned his head over hers and she woke up with a shot, head butting Chad in the nose. It proceeded to bleed and Lilly went to him with a handkerchief. "I heard you moaning. What were you dreaming about?"

"I-I can't tell you…it's a secret."

_I don't think I wanna know. _Said the voice inside Lilly's head. "Oh shut up." Chad and Orihime stared at her. "Oh! Not you!...oops..."

Orihime looked around. "Where are we anyway?! This isn't school is it?! Where are we?!"

_Not the brightest bulb in the box is she? _ Lilly almost responded out loud again but that weird guy in the funny hat showed up in the doorway. "So. You're finally awake."

"Who is that?" Orihime asked. Lilly sat next to Chad.

"I don't know…but…I think maybe he…saved our lives."

"He did…" Lilly confirmed.

"C'mon, they're both awake now. Let's hear the rest of the story." Chad spoke to the man. "Why do we suddenly have these strange powers? And…what do they have to do with Ichigo?"

"What?...Ichigo?" Orihime got a concerned look on her face.

"Yes…Your sudden supernatural abilities…Lay sleeping deep in your souls. Coming in contact with Ichigo Kurosaki…ACTIVATED YOU LATENT INBORN POWERS!!" The man in the hat explained.

Orihime spoke quietly. "Our abilities were awakened…by contact with Ichigo?"

"Yes."

"WOAH, Wait a second…I don't understand."

"You don't have to understand. Your transformation is not a disease. You were just given the key to the door in front of you. There's no need to know the cause. No need for sorrow or sadness. What comes next is up to you. You can use your keys to open the door…or lock it. And if you choose to open it…You can still decide not to pass through." The door at the opposite side of the room slid open hard.

"Sir!" It was the man that had carried Chad. He was big with a mustache and hair pulled back on his head. "The Kumon, The sky ridges…They've begun to converge."

Lilly stared confusedly at Chad. "Okay…" Said the man in the hat. "Is everything ready?"

"Yes sir!" Answered the man.

"All right. Let's go."

"Wait…Wait a second! We still haven't…" Orihime yelled after them.

"Do you want to come along?"

"Huh?"  
"You want proof? Come see for yourself…THE WORLD YOU ARE ABOUT TO STEP INTO!...and…the enemy you have to fight." The man walked out the front door and left Chad, Orihime and Lilly to decide what to do.

They stood at a window high up and watched the fight taking place between Ichigo, Ishida and the monster coming out of the sky. "Can you see…Ishida and Ichigo?"

"Uh-huh." Orihime was unusually quiet.

"Yeah." Lilly sounded lost.

"Clearly?" Asked Chad. Orihime responded yes again and Lilly nodded. "Oh…They're blurry to me."

"We watch from here…" Came Orihime's sad voice. "We look…and choose…The path we'll take…" Chad and Lilly stared at Orihime. "Lilly…Chad….What…Are we supposed to do?" Neither Lilly nor Chad had an answer for her. They just stood in silence, Chad's arm around Lilly's shoulders and Lilly's hand stroking Orihime's hair, as they watched the fight unfold. They watched Ishida and Ichigo defeat the ugly thing in the sky, but just when they thought it was over it started regenerating. Once they really defeated it Ichigo's body fell and his sword started changing shape. Ishida tried to help; it looked like they were battling an invisible enemy. Ishida let off an arrow and also fell to the ground. Both boys were exhausted. Lilly and Chad walked Orihime home. Lilly kept her arm around Orihime and hummed all the way there. After they dropped her off Chad walked Lilly home.

"I can't believe it's only been one day…"

"Yeah…Some day huh?" Lily nodded.

"You wanna come have some tea? You look pretty tired." Chad nodded and followed Lilly into her house. She went to the kitchen to make some tea and let her animals in and out. Chad went into the living room and sat on the couch next to her cats. Crystal came in and sat on his shoulder and the puppies began playing with his shoes. Lilly came back in a few minutes later with the tea. She set it on the coffee table then joined him on the couch. She plopped herself down next to him and laid her head back heavily, closing her eyes and sighing.

"So what _do_ we do?" Chad asked staring at her.

"Well…I'm going to hone my powers and help Ichigo in whatever way I can…I think you and Orihime will do the same…" Chad nodded. "You wanna crash here tonight? It's too dark for you to go home…plus no telling how many more Hollows are out there. No one from school lives close enough to me to tell that you were here…if you decide to stay…yet again….as tough as I look and seem….I'd feel a lot better if you were here…" Chad nodded and agreed to stay the night. She put him in a spare room she had. "You'll either have to sleep on the floor or the couch…sorry."

"No problem. I'll just take the floor." Lilly set up nice bedding for him on the floor then went to feed her animals. As she was doing so she felt a strange flutter of cold air. She felt a presence behind her and turned sharply, holding a large kitchen knife in her hand. "Whoa." Chad put his hands in the air. "Did you feel it too?"

"Yeah…think it has to do with Ichigo and Rukia?"

"Yeah." Lilly walked Chad back to his room and said goodnight then went to her room. She slept fitfully and woke up in the middle of the night screaming. Someone burst into her room and it took her a second to remember that Chad was there. "You okay?" Chad ran to her side and she sat gingerly.

"Yeah…my…my head..and my body…what's going on?" _you're body is tired from the energy spent yesterday. Calm down and go back to sleep. _"He says I'll be fine…it's just that my body is exhausted from all the energy I used….That dream…it was so real…"

"What dream?"

"You….you died…." Chad sat on her bed next to her legs. "The others…they were all on the ground, bloody and pale. You stood in front of me like you were protecting me….Something went through your chest and you fell to the ground…" _he said he loved you….SHUT UP! _ "In front of you was a large evil thing…it took me and tortured me…I was so scared…." Lilly started to cry from the memory of Chad dieing in her arms. Chad leaned over and hugged her tightly. She buried her head in his shoulder.

"I can stay in here if you want me to." Lily nodded and Chad went to go get his things. _Why don't you tell him?_

_ Because I'm scared….scared of rejection...scared of the dream coming true. _The voice in her head quieted when Chad came back in. Lilly lay on her bed and was soon fast asleep. This time her sleep contained nothingness.


	6. Yippee! For More Than One Reason

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Lilandra and her story

When she woke the next morning Chad was not in her room, neither was his stuff and her whole house smelled heavenly. "Chad?"

"Yeah." He had already fed all of her animals and let them out. He currently stood in her kitchen with a frying pan and was wearing a pink apron.

"Pink actually looks good on you." She giggled. "You let me sleep in."

"You had a rough night." He shrugged and served her breakfast.

"Thanks." They ate in silence and walked to school that way as well. When they got to school there was a lot of talk about all the explosions the day before. In third period Ishida walked in late and his arms were both bandaged. There was even more talk about Ishida getting in a fight. Chad, Orihime and Lilly all sat quietly, knowing what actually happened. At lunch Chad wandered off and Lilly ate alone in one of the trees. _Why do I all of a sudden feel really depressed?_ Nothing happened that day, but all day she couldn't shake off the feeling of dread and the cold that continually seeped through her body. That night she again had dreams of death and monsters. When she woke she immediately knew something was very wrong. She ran to school and when she got there someone was sitting in the place of Rukia. _What's going on?_ No one mentioned her. It was like she had been totally erased from everyone's minds. When school ended the whole gang, excluding Rukia, sat around together. Keigo got excited about summer vacation and had all these plans, but Ichigo passed, said he had things to do. Orihime and Lilly also passed, sensing these things would include something they could do to help. Tatsuki had Nationals and Chad just passed. So no one was going with him. Chad walked Lilly home again and almost fifteen minutes gave her a call. "Hello?"

"Orihime has made up her mind. She's with us. Ichigo is going to the spirit world to save Rukia. We have to help him."

"Of course." Lilly put the phone down and thought about what would happen next. Lilly sat in her living room waiting for Chad and Orihime. When they showed up Orihime looked more determined than she ever had before. They walked to the weird guy's house and were met by a black cat who informed them that they needed a lesson.

"A…lesson?" Orihime asked quietly.

"Yes." The cat confirmed. "If you insist on going to the Soul Society you'll need it. Are you willing? My lessons aren't for the faint of heart."

Orihime bounced along after him excited about the lesson. Chad and Lilly followed more calmly as they went in search of Uryu Ishida. After walking and climbing for forever they finally found him next to a waterfall. "HEY! THERE HE IS! HEY URYU!" Orihime exclaimed excitedly as they climbed onto the landing.

"Um…Miss Inoue, Lilly…and…Chad?" Orihime quickly explained what was happening and that they were going to be taking lessons. "A lesson?"

"Yeah! We need a lesson so we can go to the Soul Society. Want to join us?" They all sat on the ground. Lilly next to Chad, Orihime next to her and Uryu across from them on a rock.

"Um…well, I did notice you guys' spirit energy had increased recently…But I had no idea you were thinking of this. So…Who's your teacher? Whose tutelage are you under?"

"Um…" Chad and Lilly didn't quite know how to explain it so Orihime did the honors.

"Well, it's not exactly _who…_Actually our teacher's right beside you."

Uryu whipped around and exclaimed. "What?! Has he cloaked his presence? What power!"

"It is I." The black cat informed him.

"WHAT?!..What the…What is this!"

"Um…it's."

Orihime, Lilly and Chad looked at each other. "…a kitty." They said in unison.

"I can see that! Why is it talking?!"

The cat scoffed. "Pointing. How rude."

Uryu got embarrassed and adjusted his glasses. "I-I'm sorry…How embarrassing. Forgive my outburst."

"Indeed. Just because a cat spoke…what a disgrace."

Uryu swatted at the cat. "STOP TALKING!"

He easily dodged Uryu. "Try to be more adaptable. Take a lesson from the girl. Now, let's get to the reason we're all here shall we?"

"Yeah Uryu." Orihime looked at Uryu like he was stupid. "What's the big deal about a talking cat?"

"Um...Well…It is a little unusual." Chad said in the background with a nodding Lilly.

Orihime tried one last time to get Uryu to join their group but in the end he declined. Saying that he would rather be alone and that he didn't intend to rescue Rukia, that she meant nothing to him.

Mr. Yoruichi, the cat, started walking away. "There you have it. He's not going to the Soul Society. Then we have no further business here."

"But…"

Chad looked down at Orihime. "Let's go…Orihime…." He and Lilly walked away but Orihime stayed for a tad longer to talk to Uryu then ran to join them.

Lilly sat eating lunch while Orihime and Chad struggled to call upon their powers. "Why aren't you doing that?" Asked Mr. Yoruichi.

"Because the voice in my head tells me what to do….what's your name by the way?" Lilly looked up as if she could see inside her head. _Just call me Kuro. _"Ok." She turned back to Mr. Yoruichi. "His name is Kuro. He gives me fire." Mr. Yoruichi turned his attention back to the other two to explain to them what they were doing wrong then back to Lilly.

"Show me. And tell me what was going through your head."

Lilly stood in the center of the room making sure she was away from Chad and Orihime, though they sat and watched her. Lilly closed her eyes gently and focused. _Alright Kuro…let's show them what you can do._

_ Woohoo! It's about time! _Lilly smirked and whispered the word 'phoenix' and her body was engulfed in flame. "What else can you do?" Lilly showed him her punching and kicking then let the fire down. "When did you figure this out?"

"When I was fighting a Hollow the same day they did."

"What were you thinking?"

"I figured out why I could never call on Kuro before. I was always trying to protect the people I loved that were already dead…but…that day I just thought about all the new friends I made…Chad, Orihime, Tatsuki, Rukia…and I asked my dead family to give me something to use to protect the living…and this is what happened. Oops…" She looked at the scorch mark she created on the floor. "My bad."

"Why do you go to Soul Society?" Mr. Yoruichi asked Lilly.

"To protect my friends."

"Why do you?" He turned to Orihime.

"To protect Ichigo."

"Very good." Orihime's barrettes popped out and turned into little pixies that started attacking her head. Mr. Yoruichi worked with her for a while on how to control them the turned gravely to Chad.

"Why…do _you_ want to go to the Soul Society?" Chad never answered. But after a while his mechanical arm surrounded his right arm and he punched the wall making it crumble.

"I…I DID IT!" Chad rejoiced and Orihime and Lilly rejoiced with him but Mr. Yoruichi rained on their parade.

"You FOOLS! You've made a mess! RUN! Out the back door!" The four of them ran away form the scene and Chad, Orihime and Lilly went towards a bridge.

"Where are we going now?"

"Fire works." Orihime answered dreamily.

"Cool."

"Keigo told us to meet him here." Chad said as they approached a spot with Keigo, Ichigo and Mizuiro. Tatsuki had joined them a little earlier and entered with them. Her broken arm was soon explained as her getting hit by a car during nationals. After talking for a few hours they noticed it was getting dark so they headed to the bridge where they accidentally met up with Ichigo's drunken father. He had apparently saved seats really early that morning so the entire group except Orihime and Tatsuki left with him, running in excitement.

The fireworks were a brilliant display of colors in the air, reflecting in the river they sat next to. Chad and Lilly sat on the ground with Ichigo's little sisters who had both fallen asleep in Lilly's lap and she was stroking their hair. "You want me to move them Lilly?" Ichigo asked.

"No they're fine. Don't worry. Just enjoy the show and keep an eye on your dad."

"Crap! Where'd he go now?!" Ichigo left to find his father and Lilly let her body slump under the weight of her weariness.

"You okay Lilly?" Chad looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"Yeah…I'm fine…Just tired, that's all."

"You wanna go home?"

"No…I've never seen anything this beautiful before…I've never actually seen fireworks before tonight….so…thanks…" Lilly blushed but Chad couldn't see that because it was so dark and she was thankful. After another hour she couldn't fight her tiredness any more and let her heavy head sink onto Chad's shoulder. He shifted slightly so that she was on his chest instead and let her sleep like that for another two hours until it was time that they should go. He woke her up gently and walked around wither her. He walked her home and stopped at her door. "You should get some sleep…we still have a week of training left."

"Yeah…Goodnight." Chad kissed her on the cheek then sprinted around the corner, out of her dazed sight.


	7. New Places and Bad Sleep

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Lilandra and her story

Mr. Yoruichi worked the three of them very hard and taught them how to do all sorts of things. Orihime learned how to heal and protect, Chad learned what his strengths could do and Lilly learned more attacks and how to control her fire.

One week later Lilly had set up for her neighbor to watch her animals while she was away and was out walking the streets of the dark, quiet town. When she turned onto the street the weird guys store was on she ran into Chad, literally. She fell onto the ground and he helped her up. "What're you doing here?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep…you the same?"

"Yeah…anticipation."

"Yeah." Chad wore a white muscle shirt with a black stripe down the left side of his chest and black pants. Lilly was adorned in an ankle length black skirt with slits up to the top of her thighs over a pair of black shorts. Her shirt was blood red with black flowers floating on it. They walked silently for a while. When they were almost to the store they were supposed to meet at when a giant ball came from above and splattered right in front of them. It would have hit Lilly if Chad hadn't seen it and pulled her back into the protection of his arms. She blushed and grew warm. _Ooo…someone has a crush!!! _Kuro sang inside her head. "Shut up Kuro!" Chad looked at her again. "I really need to stop talking to him out loud." Chad smiled and read the red words.

They were written in what looked to be blood and told them to meet at the Uraharh Shoten immediately. Then added a note at the end about people not having a sense of humor if they thought it was real blood from a real murder. So Chad and Lilly waited in front of the store until Ichigo and Orihime showed. "Where's Uryu? I heard he was coming too." Ichigo looked around.

"Oh. I'm sure he'll be here soon." Orihime smiled innocently.

"He's not coming."

"CHAD!"

"It's alright Orihime." Lilly said.

"Uryu is…It might be better if he didn't come. You know cuz out of all of us…he's the most complicated…And complicated things are usually fragile. That's just how it is. He's probably…the most fragile out of us all." Chad explained. "If he's not coming…Maybe it's for the best."

"If _who's_ not coming?" Uryu's voice came from behind them. Lilly couldn't hear anything anyone else was saying because she was so focused on the absurdity of Uryu's outfit. Then the man in the weird hat showed up and led them inside and down to a large room that looked like it was outside. The weird guy knocked Ichigo's spirit out of his body and began explaining about the gate they were about to pass through. Lilly didn't understand most of what this guy was saying but she managed to pay attention during the most important part. "After four minutes, the gate will close. And you will be trapped in the Dangai, the precipice world between this world and Soul Society…FOREVER!" He then said something about a restrictive current and Mr. Yoruichi showed up and talked about the only way to go forward is to not think of those you are leaving behind, but the people with you. Not to look back and not to think back. Not to stop and not to have fear. When the gate opened the six of them ran into the light and on the other side they found ground, clouds, and a gate on the other side.

"Come! Don't just stand there! RUN! The wall of Koryu is coming!" They began to run to the other side with all the speed they could muster. When the boys looked back they saw the walls crumbling behind them. Uryu's cape got caught in the rockslide and Chad had to rip him away from it and slung Uryu over his shoulder, still running for the gate close behind Lilly. Suddenly Uryu exclaimed.

"Wh…What is that!?"

Mr. Yoruchi answered, "It's a Kototsu—a cleaner! It appears once every seven years! But why now?! RUN!! VERY FAST! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!" They ran even faster and Lilly could feel her lungs protesting. The cleaner was catching up though and it seemed impossible that they would make it. Suddenly Orihime turned and used her powers and yelled "I REJECT!" They all went flying and landed in a triangle. Ichigo landed on his back with his legs over his head, Uryu landed on his face with his butt in the air, Orihime landed in a sitting position, Mr. Yoruchi landed flat as a pancake and Chad landed on one knee, holding Lilly close to him so she wouldn't get hurt.

"Thanks…" Lilly blushed and so did Chad. Mr. Yoruichi yelled at Orihime for using powers and Ichigo stood up for her.

"Hey! The dust is settling!" They looked around and saw a small village. It was the Slum district, where spirits normally lived. Ichigo saw a different town and started running towards it. When he got there a gate flew down from the sky and blocked his path along with a giant that looked like a gorilla. As soon as they saw it wanted to kill Ichigo Chad, Orihime and Lilly took off towards him.

"Ichigo! Wait up! I'll help you!" When they were almost there the giant swung his ax down and created an earthen barrier between them. Chad and Orihime decided on a plan but the giant heard the whole thing. "Wow. His hearing's amazing."

Ichigo's voice came from over the wall. "Hey…Chad, Orihime…"

"Ichigo?! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"

"No, I'm fine."

"H-hold on a second! We'll be right…"

"Hey, Orihime…You and Chad…Just stay there and don't do anything, okay?"

Orihime protested and Uryu protested even more but Chad and Lilly just listened. "Can you do it?" Chad asked finally.

"I think so…" Came Ichigo's response.

"Be careful strawberry." Lilly said next to Chad. Ichigo told them that in five days he had regained his reaper powers and that the other five days and nights he fought. Lilly was worried, but not too much. An incredible amount of dirt and rocks flew through the air as the giant attacked Ichigo. Many flashes of light and pieces of rock flew from behind the barrier and Lilly found herself backing into Chad's muscled chest out of fear for Ichigo. They saw Ichigo still standing and rejoiced, but soon the giant brought out a second ax and was going for an attack, but Ichigo succeeded in breaking his axes and knocking him down. When the giant got back up he was cocky as ever, but when he saw that both his axes were broken he did the unimaginable: he bawled like a baby. He made this speech about how he was defeated and opened the gate for them. When he stopped they knew something was wrong. They looked inside the opened gate and saw a white haired man with a frightening smile standing inside. He had on a black kimono and a white vest over it.

"Who the heck is that?" Ichigo sounded unimpressed.

"The leader of the third company…Gin Ichimaru." Answered the giant.

"Uh-oh…This won't do." Ichimaru smiled evilly. In the blink of an eye the giant's arm came off. "Won't do at all…A gatekeeper ain't supposed to open gates." Blood from the giant's arm showered down and Ichimaru just kept smiling. "gooly. You can hold up that gate with just one arm. You sure are the Soul Society's strongest giant." The giant explained that he lost and Ichimaru responded that the gatekeeper couldn't open gates because the gatekeeper that loses, dies. Hearing this infuriated Ichigo so much that he took his sword out against Ichimaru. Ichimaru threw him back and they were about to fight but Ichimaru figured out that his opponent was Ichigo Kurosaki and walked away. After a few steps Ichimaru turned around and threw his knife into Ichigo, sending him flying into the giant and away from the gate. Ichimaru waved goodbye to them and the gate closed.

They all ran to Ichigo trying to figure out if he was alright. Once they were in agreement that he was unscathed they saw that the town had filled with people…spirits. And they were all watching their group. Lilly moved closer to Chad and he moved closer to her. "People…" Uryu pointed out.

"Thank you captain obvious." Lilly murmured. Chad smirked.

"Who are they? Where were they hiding before?" Asked Ichigo.

"Why?" was more important for Orihime.

Lilly heard a little kid's voice in the crowd. "Let me through! Please let me through!" A kid with brown hair and shining eyes broke through the front line. "Hey! Chad! It's me! Yuichi! The Parakeet!"

Chad stared at him in a daze. "Yu…YUICHI!?" Yuichi ran to Chad and hugged him.

"And you're the pretty girl that helped us that one time huh?" Lilly nodded and hugged him as well. "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried." Chad lifted Yuichi onto his shoulders and the three of them walked around town as some of the villagers and Orihime put the giants arm back on.

"Well, you seem to like it here. That's good."

"Yeah…And all my family are all nice people."

"Family?"

"Hey Yuichi!" A different little boy ran up to Chad and Lilly.

"Who's this?" Asked Chad.

"Hello mister." Yuichi said that this boy was like his older brother and quickly explained that in Rukongai spirits choose to live in families made up of strangers because they don't have anyone else. Lilly and Chad found out that Yuichi hadn't found his mother yet but Chad told him that he would some day. Yuichi thanked him and left with his older brother. Chad hung his head and Lilly rested a hand on his arm. He smiled at her but she could tell he was still sad.

"Don't worry…you'll see him again." Chad nodded and they walked into a building to rest and eat. They sat next to Mr. Yoruichi and a few hours later Orihime walked in with Ichigo. "Man…that girl is strong…way stronger than she looks…" Chad nodded in agreement.

"You're all here." Mr. Yoruichi announced. "Sit. I will now explain our plan of action." He explained that he knew of a person who could get them over the wall. Just as Mr. Yoruichi was going to explain what exactly a Kukaku Shiba was a big ugly guy smashed through the door of the building they were in. the teen started harassing Ichigo, asking what a stinking soul reaper was doing there and Ichigo punched him in the cheek. After inquiry of who he was he yelled that he was the number one hater of all soul reapers and yata yata yata, All that he was was self proclaimed. But his name was Ganju and that's all that's really important. They followed the two outside, but Chad didn't. Uryu pointed out that Ichigo didn't have his Zanpakuto, his sword, and Orihime said she would make a shield but Chad showed up in the doorway and threw Ichigo's sword to him. Lilly sighed with relief and leaned against the door frame, Chad right behind her. After a minute of fighting Ganju and his gang started freaking out because it was nine o'clock. Ganju quickly rode away telling Ichigo to wait here and he'd be back.

Chad, Lilly and Orihime stood outside the town waiting for Uryu and Ichigo to join them. They had spent the night, but it was fitful for Lilly, filled with horrid dreams. _Why can't I just have some good sleep?_ Orihime went to check on the boys and left Chad and Lilly alone. "You okay Lilly?"

"HUH? Oh…yeah….I'm fine."

"Couldn't sleep last night again huh?"

"Yeah…"

"You worried about something?"

"Yeah." Chad gave her a questioning look. "I'm afraid of losing you all." _Especially you…_

Chad engulfed her body with his, his chin rested atop her head. "Don't worry. We're not goin' anywhere." The boys and the cat came out with Orihime and they started their journey. They'd been walking for four hours when they finally found the place they were looking for. It was a small looking house, but on either side of it were arms holding up a sign over the house that said 'Kukaku Shiba' and in the middle of it was a very tall white tower. Two men blocked there way and said they could not pass. Ichigo got out his sword but Mr. Yoruichi was recognized by the men and they quickly changed their minds and led them down a long flight of stairs to a sliding door. Yelling came from inside the room and they were quickly ushered inside. When they got in Lilly saw a well endowed woman with one arm sitting very unlady like in a skirt with high slits and a very low cut shirt. Everyone gaped in amazement that Kukaku was a woman. She greeted Mr. Yoruichi, then noticed the teens in the background.

"What? Who're the kids?" her voice was deep and harsh.

"Kukaku…I've come to ask you a favor."

"Of course you have. That's usually the case when you show up. Trouble?"

"Probably."

Kukaku lowered her head. "Heh. We haven't had an exchange like this for too long…Go on. Let's hear your story…I love trouble." Mr. Yoruichi told her what was going on and why they needed to get into the Soul Society and she loved it. The only problem was that she didn't trust the teens yet, so she assigned a man to oversee the operation. This man happened to be her little brother. She talked to a man behind a door and when she opened the door none other than Ganju was sitting behind it.

"Hello! My name's Ganju. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The others stared at him and when he lifted his head both he and Ichigo yelled in shock.

"What? You two know each other?" Kukaku smoked by the door. Ichigo and Ganju proceeded to fight each other and Kukaku hit and kicked them in the head, yelling at them to knock it off. She yelled at both of them then ordered everyone up.

"This chick's kinda scary." Lilly whispered. Orihime, Chad and Uryu all nodded in agreement as they stood without question. "Yes ma'am!" She yelled with everyone else. She told them to follow her and she led them down a long hallway with tons of lights. When they got to a door Ganju made a big deal of opening it. When he did open it they entered a room that was completely bare except for a very big, tall pillar running from the ground through the ceiling. Kukaku explained that she was going to launch the team into the sky with the giant pillar.

"I'm Kukaku Shiba…Rukongai's premier fireworks expert!"


End file.
